Spine Angle
- This topic has 12 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 01/07/2016 at 6:57 pm by
.
-
- Topics: 14
- Replies: 427
the placement of the blade does not mean it has to sit on both pegs,. Its not the law.. those guide pegs are just a reference.. the higher the blade sits in the jaws, the more acute the angle is. The angle cube is the last word in the actual angle. here is an example.. set the blade in the vice and set the paddles at 20 * degrees. raise the knife in the jaws and the angle will decrease. lower the blade and the angle will increase. placement of the blade in the same spot is for repeatability placement of the knife forward or back from the center line is critical to sustaining the angle throughout the stroke. illustration of this is found in the manual, showing how the knife does not have to be parallel with the base .
4 users thanked author for this post.
I have a bunch of low-cost, el-cheapo folders I use around the house. Early on, I decided to settle on a single set-up for all of them, so I wouldn’t have to look up each one in my log-book. I use the top position of the key, the spine of each knife held tight against the two key pins and with the bolster pressed tight against the near face of the vise. I don’t have to think about the correct position – it’s always the same. The angle is always 20 dps. Saves a lot of time.
1 user thanked author for this post.
Good question. Pros for using the depth key: you have a repeatable reference on how deep the blade sits and also if you put the spine against both pins or not. I started out keeping the flat part of the edge parallel to the base => so it may or may not sit on both pins. For some knives it makes since to tilt the blade to make it easier to get the sweet spot without having to position the blade too far reward in the vice. Cons: some blade shapes work better with manual placement.
I would say keeping a log has worked well for me. I don’t track the junker knives, but all the rest I do. It makes touch ups much easier to reposition the same way if you have good notes. Also I can’t always remember the angle it was sharpened at. It’s nice to know this especially when the blade doesn’t perform as well as I like and the angle needs to be changed.
3 users thanked author for this post.
- Topics: 14
- Replies: 427
The concept of sharpening as knife is not brain surgery. There are a few tricks. but for most, any angle can be made sharp because the WE design takes all of the free hand variable angles out of the process… one of the tricks is the pressure use in the stroke. toward the end of the process the touch is more critical. Attaining the first burr can be done with any pressure. but as the edge becomes defined, and the level of pressure relates more to the visual flatness of the scratches as the smoothness is adjusted by finer and finer stones.
Finding that sweet spot can easily be attained using that trick Josh showed in a Vid, where he put a piece of tape on a paddle to set the sweet spot of the knife within the vice. using the tape to visually see just how the stroke impacts the edge. from front to rear.
I don’t for one minute, profess to be an expert, but the learning curve comes very quickly with a few tricks. The WE itself makes sharpening a knife very easy, if you understand the concept… Once the knife is set correctly within the vice, the only variable is the amount of pressure used, and the number of strokes necessary to get the edge to the next level. I’ve taken a knife to 600# grit ( toothy edge ) and cut a tomato so thin (.005 inch ) you could see through it. The blade edge never slipped off the tomato. Moving the edge to the next slice was very positive. almost like the knife stuck to the skin when I placed the knife on the next position using my fingers as a slicing guide. A non toothy edge could move slightly when placed on the skin.
4 users thanked author for this post.
A non toothy edge could move slightly when placed on the skin.
I happened to write a blog post on this: https://moleculepolishing.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/will-a-knife-with-a-polished-edge-cut-a-tomato/
😀
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
- Topics: 14
- Replies: 427
- Topics: 14
- Replies: 427
A non toothy edge could move slightly when placed on the skin.
I happened to write a blog post on this: https://moleculepolishing.wordpress.com/2015/06/26/will-a-knife-with-a-polished-edge-cut-a-tomato/
This is what I found, my personal experience.. when you have a seriously sharp knife, without toothiness, the knife has to be exactly 90 * degrees to the cutting surface… if the knife sits at a slight angle, it will rest on a slippery smooth side that was mirrored and with a slight adjustment of the slice angle it will be 90* degrees and will slice through anything like butter…. again this is my experience, Not to be confused with someone who actually knows something about this system.
with a toothy edge ( that is sharp ) no matter if the cut angle is slightly off by a few degrees, the toothiness will stick the edge to the tomato or what ever you are trying to cut.. With a mirrored edge, it is much less forgiving, ( my experience ) . I can take a toothy edge and not be as concerned about a perfect 90* degrees plus or minus 1 degree.. Where as, a toothy edge will engage at 90 * degrees Plus or minus 5 degrees, making a ten degree deviation a non issue. A mirrored edge has to be more perpendicular to the cut than a toothy edge.
Let me give an analogy… if you have ever tried to open a clam or oyster,, the knife has to be “exactly” 90* degrees to the opening or the knife wont go in..
opening a clam is like using a mirrored edge.. it works like magic if you have the knife exactly 90* degrees to the cut. turn that knife one degree and it wont go in. the clam.
Just my insight.. not to be confused with actual science…although the math is good.
I seem to remember talk about a transparent grid in the works to mark tip position for repeatability? That always seemed like a great way to get the knife clamped the same way…
We’re still working on that. Our mfg partner that was helping us with it imploded last summer, so I’ve got to source a new supplier.
-Clay
1 user thanked author for this post.
- Topics: 14
- Replies: 427
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.